City of London police are waiting to hear whether their investigation into alleged corruption in football has produced sufficient evidence to charge some of the game's leading figures. A file containing the results of their two-year inquiry into transfers and agents' fees was delivered to the Crown Prosecution Service last week, leaving lawyers to decide whether the police evidence is strong enough to bring charges against any of the seven well-known names mentioned in the file.

Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager, is among those named in the police inquiry, which has looked into "suspected conspiracy to defraud, false accounting and money laundering offences".

"A file has been passed to the CPS for a decision in relation to charging," confirmed a City of London spokesperson last night. There is no indication how long it will take CPS lawyers to reach a judgment on the evidence which has been gathered during Operation Apprentice.

City of London Police will be acutely aware, however, that they cannot afford another high-profile blunder, with the embarrassing collapse of the cheating case against the jockey Kieren Fallon still fresh in the mind.

The investigation into football fraud - a subject which was brought into the spotlight after Mike Newell, the former Luton manager, claimed that corruption was rife - has attracted severe criticism from several of those who have been named in relation to the inquiry.

Sullivan claimed he felt "personally violated" and "almost rather raped" after he was arrested in April while Redknapp won damages in May after the high court ruled the dawn raid on his home last November had been unlawful.